Top U.S. officials insisted that international sanctions on Iran are back in force and announced new measures were being put in place even as most nations reject the U.S. effort as invalid.
Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said Monday that all UN members are expected to enforce sanctions that were suspended as part of a 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran. He added that the U.S. is also sanctioning Iran’s ministry of defense and its armed forces as well as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who has continued to buy gasoline from Tehran despite U.S. sanctions.
National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien added that President Donald Trump has signed an executive order aimed at preventing the sale or transfer of arms to Iran.
The announcements on Iran came a day after the U.S. said “snap back” sanctions on Iran were again in force, invoking what it said was U.S. authorities under UN resolutions. Pompeo was joined by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Pentagon chief Mark Esper and Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft.
Yet the U.S. bid to restore all UN sanctions on Iran widens a divide between the U.S. and most other nations. Even European allies say the U.S. has no right to invoke the accord’s “snap back” provision because Trump quit the multinational deal to restrain Iran’s nuclear program two years ago.
As of the weekend, 13 of 15 Security Council members had said they don’t consider the U.S. move valid.